Everything Burns
by queenofspades72
Summary: Regina's world is crumbling to the ground... literally. Can Emma get to the bottom of what happened, and maybe help save Regina along the way? (Lyrics not mine)
1. Chapter 1

_She sits in her corner__  
__Singing herself to sleep__  
__Wrapped in all of the promises__  
__That no one seems to keep__  
__She no longer cries to herself__  
__No tears left to wash away__  
__Just diaries of empty pages__  
__Feelings gone astray__  
__But she will sing___

_Til everything burns__  
__While everyone screams__  
__Burning their lies__  
__Burning my dreams__  
__All of this hate__  
__And all of this pain__  
__I'll burn it all down__  
__As my anger reigns_  
_Til everything burns_

The former mayor sat in her Mercedes-Benz, arms folded over the steering wheel and her chin resting on them as tears streamed down her cheeks. The flicker of flames reflected in her eyes as she stared blankly ahead, not even sure what to do next—where to go. The fire department wouldn't reach her beloved mansion in time, of that she was certain. Oh, sure, the station was fairly close—everything was in Storybrooke—but with the curse broken and everyone upset with her, there wasn't a soul in the town who wouldn't enjoy the suffering and pain caused by the loss of her only remaining physical possessions.

Regina cleared her throat and wiped away the tears as a flash of headlights in the rearview mirror caught her eye. The last thing she wanted to do tonight was to deal with people and their questions, and the smug looks on their faces as they realized the world had exacted some sort of revenge on their behalf. So she quickly put the car into gear and sped away, not even sure where she was going until she found she had parked the car in front of City Hall. She wasn't privy to the luxury of the mayor's office anymore—no, it had been habit rather than any actual logical offering that had drawn her to this building. Sighing, she stepped out of the car and opened the door to the back seat, crawling in and curling up **AFTER** locking all the doors. She couldn't take any chances with her life now. That, and pride, had been what had stopped her from going to Granny's and just renting a room instead of placing herself in this cramped predicament.

In the morning she would face her problems head on, resume the regal status she felt she was truly due. But for now, Regina allowed herself one night of grief, mourning all she had lost: her title, her son, her control, and now the physical place and physical memories, essentially erasing the twenty eight years prior when she had possessed each of those things. In the morning, she wouldn't give a fuck. But for now, just for tonight, she allowed what was left of her shattered heart to splinter even further, and permitted herself to feel the full force of the pain she had endured, both since the curse was broken and before.

…

Emma Swan was the first on the scene and watched, horrified, as flames licked up the sides of the mayoral mansion. She had called in the incident, of course, but had trouble convincing the reluctant fire department to respond when they had been told which house was the victim. Finally threatening to throw someone in jail if she didn't see that damn red fire truck within the next two minutes, she heard the scream of the siren as the vehicle sped toward the house. Emma turned back toward her car. She would supervise from there, then fence off the perimeter and return home. The fire would take most of the night to put out anyway, and she couldn't conduct a proper investigation until the morning.

Just then, as one of the windows burst out from the pressure of the flames, a horrible thought occurred to Emma. Sure, Regina had been missing since the sheriff and her family had accused her of Archie's murder, but what if she happened to be inside the house now—at this moment?

Emma threw open her car door, leaving it ajar as she ran without further thought straight into the thick, billowing clouds of dark smoke that poured out when she threw open the front door.


	2. Chapter 2

Heavy black smoke made tears sting at the edges of Emma's eyes as she threw open the front door and ran inside the mayoral mansion. A desperate shout, "Regina!" tore from her burning throat. She knew if she stayed in there much longer she couldn't survive. But there were just too many rooms—too many possibilities. The sheriff's vision began to swim in front of her as she checked behind the door to the study, only to be greeted by the hot burst of a wall of flame. Shielding her face with her arm, Emma turned around, closing the door firmly behind her.

Occasional coughing had now turned into constant hacking as Emma's lungs attempted to regurgitate the oxygen-depleted air she was breathing in, heavy laden with the thick smoke. She felt like she was running in slow motion as she headed for the back door, half expecting to see Regina outside, tending to her precious apple tree as if her world wasn't 20 feet behind her burning to the ground.

Just short of the door, she collapsed.

…

_Emma had the vague sense of floating through the air. The space around her was undefined—ethereal almost. She reached out, trying to grasp something, but came into contact with nothing. Her motions were slow, delayed, as though she was trying to act quickly underwater. Her brain struggled to catch up. __**Am I dead?**_

_Landing hard, Emma was jolted into a new reality. She blinked once, twice, trying to bring her new surroundings into clear view. When she opened her eyes a third time, she gasped at the beauty that surrounded her. A beautiful countryside greeted her. The colors were sharper, more in focus than anything she had ever experienced. The emerald grass was soft against her bare feet. She wiggled her toes, allowing the blades to creep through, before glancing down to look._

_That's when she noticed something was wrong. Her feet weren't hers. They were the feet of a child, and just a shade or two too dark as well. Her hands jumped up to her face. Running her hands along her features, Emma noticed that nothing felt right—her lips were too plump and not naturally downturned like her own, her nose was a hair longer and thinner, her eyebrows were not so highly arched. Panicking, she grabbed her long hair which was neatly braided down her back and yanked it quickly to the front. It was a dark shade of brunette unlike any color hers had ever been, even in her younger years when she had experimented extensively with different dyes and different personalities to match._

_Emma turned slowly, as if instinct had told her to do so. Behind her was a small pond, and she stepped toward it. Almost afraid of what she might see, Emma slowly looked down into the unnaturally still water. Her reflection looked back up at her. The girl in the pond looked worried, matching how Emma felt, but that was about all that matched what Emma expected to see._

_The girl staring back was a girl maybe in her early teens. She was dressed head to toe for riding horses. A red riding coat encased her top half, while her bottom was neatly tucked into a pair of black breeches and knee-high black boots with a small, blunt heel. As Emma had already observed, her hair was dark, and her eyebrows matched, leading Emma to believe that was her natural color. Her features were… sharper, more defined, she decided. Emma scowled. And that's when she noticed it. The girl in the pond gasped as her hand flew to her mouth. She looked exactly like a young Regina._

_As if to confirm her suspicions, a harsh, but feminine voice called Regina's name. Emma looked around, half expecting Regina to materialize and answer this other woman's call. But then she realized she __**was**__ Regina in this world. The woman was calling for __**her**__._

"_Yes?" Emma called back, shocked at the voice that came out of her. It held no trace of similarity to the voice she typically heard from Regina today, except in the few moments Emma had witnessed her at her most vulnerable. It was child-like, sure, but there was another quality to it that made it altogether different from just a younger version of the woman she knew today. It was so… innocent._

_A woman came over the nearby hill, looking authoritative and formidable. Her face held a look of cool anger. Emma recognized the woman, but she couldn't figure out from where…_

"_Regina!" This woman sounded furious—intimidating. "__**What**__ do you think you are doing?"_

"_I… uh…" Emma mumbled, honestly not sure what she __**was**__ doing._

"_I asked you a question," the woman said with a fake sweetness as she held her hand up. Purple smoke appeared, swirling around Emma's face. In that moment, Emma recognized Cora, as her throat closed off, as her air supply died, as it felt like a hand was placed firmly over her lips, smothering her._

…

Emma's eyes shot open. She began squirming and struggling, attempting to get whatever was on her face, off—just wanting to breathe. Hands came down on either shoulder, pinning her in place. Her vision swam, trying to bring the person's face into view as she started struggling harder, attempting to fight off her attacker. The person only restrained her more firmly, until Emma's knee kicked up and connected with some sensitive part of the assailant or another, because they let go of her and backed away. Without thought, Emma's fist swung out, connecting with the person's jaw as she ripped the offending item from her face and tried to breathe again. For some reason, her breath had come easier when she was being smothered than it was now.

That's when her ears stopped ringing, her hearing slowly returning.

She heard a male voice, in pain, trying to talk sense into her. Emma's vision finally came into focus, and she saw Dr. Whale's form crumpled beside her, holding his face. She looked down at the mask that had covered her face, recognizing it. It was the same type of mask they had put on Regina when Emma had saved her from the fire…

The fire! Regina! Emma turned quickly and immediately regretted it. Her head pounded from lack of oxygen. Picking up the oxygen mask and returning it to her face, Emma breathed deeply before taking in her surroundings. She was in Regina's backyard, far from the house, beyond the apple tree. When Emma turned, she could see the tree behind her, as well as the smoldering remains of the mansion in whose shadow it had once proudly stood. Smoke still rose from the blackened ashes as a group of firefighters continued drenching them with gushing water.

Emma turned back to Dr. Whale, stunned, still processing the scene slowly. "What happened?"

"I assume you mean before you crippled your rescuer," the doctor retorted. Emma just shot him a warning look. She wanted facts, and was in no mood for his bellyaching over a little punch.

"Please, Whale" she shot back in the same sarcastic tone, "If I'd wanted to cripple you, you wouldn't actually be able to walk ever again. And I'm thinking about it if I don't get some info… fast."

Dr. Whale rolled his eyes, but Emma saw the small gulp he took as his Adam's apple shifted over his throat. "I was… just in the neighborhood when I saw the smoke coming from Regina's house. Naturally I wondered if anyone might be inside, so I rushed in. I found you by the back door, and managed to drag you out—quite literally—right before the whole place collapsed. I would think you would be grateful…" he muttered the last part as he dusted off his shirt, as if to emphasize the toll of the mayhem he had just described enduring at her expense.

"Come on, Whale, you and I both know there's something wrong with that story. You just happened to be in the neighborhood? You ran into the house, concerned, as if you or anyone in this town would actually risk your lives to try to save the one person who logically would be in there—Regina? Have I ever told you about my super power..?"

Emma was cut off when the fire chief came over to report the latest to her and Dr. Whale. The house was clearly long beyond saving, but hosing down the remains would ensure that Emma could begin her investigation as soon as this afternoon.

"Like hell I'm waiting that long." Emma tore off the mask once more and got up, thrown into another coughing fit as she did so.

"Please, Miss Swan, I really think you need to go to the hospital, rest for a few days, give yourself time to expel all of the irritants you inhaled into your lungs…"

"No," Emma cut Dr. Whale off. "I have to find Regina."

The sun was just peeking over the horizon as Emma marched toward her patrol car. She threw open the door and plopped heavily inside, turning to cough once more into her elbow. Determination filled her expression as she put the car in gear and focused on her destination: City Hall.


	3. Chapter 3

_Little Regina sat on the floor of the stable in her new white dress. Oh, if her mother could see her now she would be so disapproving. She would make that terrible 'tsk, tsk' sound she made whenever Regina knew something bad was about to happen. But right now her mother was gone into town, so the six year old girl with long, dark curls sat on the dusty stable floor among the hay, her teaset in front of her._

_The horses took turns peeking their heads over the stall doors, neighing or whinnying lightly at the young girl, and Regina would giggle softly and offer each a cup of imaginary tea in return. She sipped the air from her cup as she carried on a conversation with her only true friends in the world._

"_Would you like some more, Moonlight? Now, Cinnamon, it's rude to interrupt me while I'm talking." Regina fixed him with a mock disapproving glare, but when he let out another whinny she just smiled widely and stood up, moving to pet his velvety nose._

"_Regina!" The little girl gasped, turning and seeing her mother in the doorway. "Look what you've done to your pretty white dress!"_

_Regina shrunk back, clearly frightened by Cora's sudden appearance. Cora pretended to soften. "Now, now, dear," she stepped forward, cupping her daughters cheek. Her tone turned sickeningly sweet with the first loud __**crunch**__. "You really must watch where you leave your toys. You wouldn't want any harm to come to them, right dear?" Another __**crunch**__ as Cora crushed a saucer under her heel. Cora continued walking forward, obliterating Regina's teaset piece by piece. __**Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Crunch, crunch, tap. Tap, tap, tap.**_

_Regina's forehead wrinkled. That wasn't the sound of her mother crushing her teaset underfoot._

_**Tap, tap, tap.**__ What was that? "Regina… Regina?" __** Tap, tap, tap.**_

Regina awoke with a start. She groaned. Every limb was sore from her position, curled up in the back of her car in the City Hall parking lot.

**Tap, tap, tap. **"Regina?"

The ex-mayor groaned again, squinting through the sunlight streaming in through her car window to meet the eyes of a flustered and concerned Emma Swan.

"Regina open up!"

Regina sighed deeply. She leaned forward and turned the keys in the ignition, then moved to roll the window down not more than an inch. "What can I do for you Miss Swan?"

"C'mon Regina, we have to talk. Can't you actually come out of your car? Maybe I could take you to the hospi—"

"No!" Regina cut her off. "I mean, I am fine Miss Swan. The only ailment I am currently experiencing is the annoyance associated with your presence and incessant questioning."

"Regina I haven't even asked you anything yet. But I do have a few questions…" Emma leaned against the car, peering through the window at Regina trying her best to assess the situation. She stumbled back as the car door was pushed open against her.

"I am not going to the hospital," Regina firmly announced as she marched past Emma. A few steps beyond, she smoothed down her pantsuit, ran her fingers through her hair, then stormed on. Emma shrugged before tailing after her like a puppy.

Emma jogged behind Regina to catch up. "Are you okay? Were you hurt? Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"

Regina turned abruptly on her heels. "I will not tolerate any more questions until I have my morning coffee, and if I have to spell it out to get it through that thick blonde hair of yours I will: **I am not going to the hospital**."

Regina turned back and took the final strides to Granny's. She didn't bother to hold the door for Emma when she entered; luckily the sheriff caught it before it slammed in her face. "Ok," Emma yelled after Regina, "Fine, but if you're not more careful then _I_ will have to go!"

Regina rolled her eyes before scooting into a booth near the back. Emma joined just as Ruby left the table. "Did you order something for me?"

"No, I'm sorry dear, I don't know what beverage you prefer to consume in the mornings. I assume something charming as ever—beer?" Regina motioned for Ruby to come back over.

"I'll have a coffee, Ruby," Emma said pointedly, glaring at Regina.

Regina's mouth turned up in a smirk. She crossed her legs and leaned forward slightly.

Emma leaned forward as well. "Now, Regina—"

"Ah, ah. No coffee, no questions."

Emma rolled her eyes. Luckily, Ruby was quick to bring the coffees after that. Regina took a small sip, humming in appreciation. "Now, what can I do for you Miss Swan?"

"Oh no, I can't answer that question. I haven't had my morning muffin yet," Emma mocked, putting her hand up to motion Ruby over. Regina caught Emma's hand, forcing it back down to the table. She held hers on top of Emma's for a few moments. Emma looked down, surprised.

"Please, just ask your questions." Emma saw a hint of the desperation Regina tried so hard to bury. The vulnerable brunette's hand slipped off of Emma's and back to her coffee mug, which she picked up to take another sip in an attempt to distract herself.

Emma leaned forward again, moving her head down to catch Regina's gaze. Looking her in the eyes as if searching for the truth, Emma asked, "Are you sure you're okay Regina?"

"Am I okay? You want to know if I'm okay. Well. I lost my son. I lost my position. I lost everything I had in this town. And last night I watched all I had left, my physical possessions, burn to the ground. So what do you think? Am I _okay_?"

Emma winced. "God Regina, I was just being polite." Seeing Regina flinch at her words, Emma quickly corrected, "I mean, I know it's been hard, but you kinda brought this on yourself, didn't you? You cursed everyone…"

"I don't have to sit here and listen to this." Regina grabbed her mug, took one last sip, then set it back on the table as she stood up abruptly. "Good day, Miss Swan." Regina went to storm out but Emma caught her arm. This time it was Regina who looked down, surprised.

"Regina, wait. Where will you go?" Emma looked up at Regina. The concern had returned to her eyes.

"That's really none of your business Miss Swan. If you have any further questions for me, you have my number." Regina moved to leave again, but Emma held tight to her arm. "Miss Swan, you are bruising my arm."

"Do you need a place to stay?"

"Even if I did, Sheriff, what makes you think I would stay with _you_?" Regina spat. She desperately just wanted to leave—now.

Emma looked down at the table, releasing the ex-mayor's arm. Quietly, she responded, "What other choice do you have?"

Defeated, Regina slumped down into the booth next to Emma, the blonde scooting over quickly to get out of the way. Emma put her hand on Regina's shoulder. "It'll be okay…"

A tear graced the corner of Regina's eye before she wiped it away furiously. She shrugged Emma's hand off her shoulder and stood up quickly once more. "Let's go."

Emma threw some money on the table for the coffees, then followed Regina out. They trekked quietly back to Emma's place. Emma said a silent prayer of thanks that Mary Margaret and Henry were currently living with David. The last thing she needed was another confrontation between Regina and her stepdaughter.

Emma gave Regina a change of clothes—an old tank top and some sweatpants—and pointed her toward the shower. Regina had tried to seem grateful, attempting to hide her disgust at the clothing options. Even so, her nose had wrinkled ever so slightly.

Ensuring that her houseguest was taken care of, Emma headed out to continue her investigation of the mysterious fire, leaving a note for Regina on the kitchen counter. She didn't expect Regina to even read it before collapsing into Mary Margaret's old bed…


End file.
